The Joining of the Three

Chapter 8

"Hello, Mother."

Those two simple words elicited several different reactions. Mariah simply sighed, her voice tinged with both resignation and dread. Several of the room's occupants gasped. Ron leapt to his feet like his arse had been set on fire, which made Ginny giggle slightly.

"Mrs. Jamison," Ron said, his voice so squeaky that Draco had to muffle the giggles he now shared with his wife.

The witch in question, however, was not impressed. She looked down her aquiline nose at Ron with an air of annoyance. "My name," she said imperiously, "is Allison Leyah. Jamison is Mariah's father's last name."

Ron was fairly sure he'd never used that much contempt in his voice, even when talking about Malfoy. Duly chastised, Ron sat back down. He knew his face was burning with irritation and embarrassment, and was relieved when Mariah's mother turned her attention away from him.

"How are you, love?" she asked her daughter, kneeling beside the couch where Mariah lay and placing her hands on the swell of the growing baby. Mariah flinched at her mother's touch.

"I'm fine, Mother. Why are you here?"

"Where else would I be? My baby's about to become a mother," Allison cooed.

Mariah? Ron asked, a little uneasy with the tension radiating from his fiancée. What is it?

This is more affection than she's shown me in the past fifteen years, Ron. She only acts like this when she wants something.

"She's here," Kalena announced in a commanding voice, "to fix the mess she's made."

"No, she's not," Allison replied, her hands and eyes still fixed on Mariah. "I told you Kalena, I would do nothing different."

"Would someone kindly explain what is going on?" Dumbledore interrupted.

"Nothing that concerns you," Allison answered contemptuously.

Dumbledore looked shocked. Harry knew Dumbledore wasn't used to being addressed as though he was a blast ended skrewt that had found its way into the house. His feelings about Mariah's mother dropped another notch. That placed her just above mountain trolls.

"Mother," Mariah said sharply, rising awkwardly to her feet. "I'd like to speak to you alone. Now."

Ron caught Mariah's eyes as she reached the common room door. Will you be all right?

I'll be fine, Ron. And, by the way, I forgot to say something earlier.

Allison passed by her daughter on their way out of the room, but Mariah kept Ron's attention.

What's that?

I love you, too.

His answering grin lit up his whole face. He knew then, despite the bad feeling he'd gotten about his future mother in law, that everything was okay with her. With them.

"Well, that was refreshing," Dumbledore said once the door had closed. "I haven't been put in my place that effectively since I attended school here."

Dumbledore's words eased some of the tension that Allison Leyah had left in her wake. The trip through the pensieve temporarily forgotten, everyone in the room focused on Kalena and Sybill Trelawney. Ron and Harry, who had taken Divination straight through to their seventh years, were astonished by the change in their former teacher's appearance.

"Kalena, if I may," Trelawney said, her voice lacking its normal syrupy quality. She walked with fluid grace towards the couch Mariah had vacated.

"There has been a lot more speculation towards the Diviner Order this year than I have seen in my whole life. And, although it may surprise some of you," she looked briefly at Hermione, Harry and Ron, "I am a member of that Order. My skills are extremely limited, only occasional flashes, but I am still a Diviner. Many years ago, when my mother died, I came back to my father's native Britain. When Professor Dumbledore offered the Divination position to me, I jumped at the chance. And here I have remained ever since."

"Excuse me, Sybill," Harry interjected, "but you told us during seventh year that Diviners were simply a group of telepathic witches."

"Precisely, Harry," she smiled at him, "how better to ensure the secrecy of the Order? And as for the rather unorthodox impression I give, well…let's just say it's a role I've enjoyed playing for years. But when Renae showed up and began the questioning about the Triuna Crudus. I knew then that the time had come for batty Professor Trelawney to be shelved for a while."

"She contacted me directly," Kalena took up the narrative, "and we began work immediately, trying to pinpoint the location of the man behind the attacks and the woman helping him, Renae."

"You know who she is?" Ginny asked, still harboring a bit of ill will towards the woman and her attempted kidnapping.

"Yes. She's an American Diviner who followed a man here when he left our country. A man named Sabastian."

"Harry already told us his name," Hermione said, her well known aversion to the practice of Divination showing.

After Harry had filled the other women in on his imprisonment and their trip into the pensieve, Hermione was nearly twitching with unanswered questions. "But all this leads me to a number of questions. If I may, Sybill?"

"Please, Hermione," Trelawney smiled.

"If some of you are precognitive, why is this coming as such a big shock? Why can't you just look into Mariah's future, or this Renae's, and find your answers?"

"It doesn't work that way, Hermione," Kalena answered. "For example, I can't touch your shoulder and tell whether the child you carry is male or a female. All I can do is look into your future, take any images of children and then estimate…"

"You mean guess," Hermione sniffed.

"Yes, guess. Your own experience with Divination should be example enough of the imprecision of our precognitive gifts," Sybill sniffed back, affronted at the attack on her sisterhood. Hermione's arrogance faded a bit at the memory of the pain her wrong guess had caused.

Since her best friend was out of the room, Hermione decided to ask the question that had been haunting her. "Is Mariah carrying the Triuna Crudus?"

The room fell eerily silent, and everyone began casting their eyes between both Sybill and Kalena.

"The thing is, Hermione, we just don't know." Kalena arched a brow at her, and the younger woman closed her mouth. "Believe me, I wish we did, but we won't know for sure until the baby is born. I've spoken to several Knowers, some of the most powerful alive, and they all sense that something is happening. Something not good. And it does indeed involve a Triuna. You see, there are many possible futures, depending on the actions taken and decisions made in our present.

"The only thing I've heard that has bearing is that Allison's name has been connected to it. That's part of the reason she's here."

"Part…" Harry began, but stopped at the verbal explosion across the hall.

"How dare you!"

The room as a whole jumped at the shout. Allison's voice reverberated down the corridor and into every room along it. Ron had just risen to his feet when Mariah came walking serenely back into the staff room and resumed her seat next to him.

"Mariah?" Hermione asked, concern furrowing her brow.

"Mom wasn't too happy to hear our news," she told Ron, lacing her fingers with his. She smiled into his worried eyes and they all waited while the pair shared a private conversation about something. After a few moments, Ron nodded and grinned as Mariah broke the news. "Ron asked me to marry him earlier this evening and I accepted."

The silence that greeted her pronouncement was almost identical to the one following her mother's entrance, but had quite a different reaction. The room became a flurry of congratulations, handshakes and cheek kisses. All mention of future events was suddenly shelved in favor of an impromptu engagement party.

^*^*^*^

It wasn't until much later that Ron and Mariah were able to talk privately, or at least, without a room full of people watching them as they sent thoughts back and forth. Ron had hoped to garner more information about her mother. Mariah, however, seemed more interested in his.

"Ron, what exactly was your plan? I mean, you were planning on telling her about us, weren't you?"

"Of course I was, but just…later."

Mariah smiled. She had heard so many stories of Molly Weasley from Ron and Ginny, as well as from Harry and Hermione, that she knew why Ron was hesitating. They'd passed the "I've been really busy, Mum, but…" time frame about two months ago. Now the baby was due in a matter of days, and they were talking about getting married. Mariah had no idea how real mothers felt, but she was fairly sure that the sooner they informed Molly Weasley, the better.

"I'd say were about as close to later as we can get," she grimaced as the baby within her gave a mighty kick against her hand.

"Well, it's not just us, you know. We have Ginny to consider," Ron said, obviously grasping at any excuse to avoid his mother's wrath.

"Which is why I spoke to her before bringing it up. She and Draco are both ready to reveal their marriage to the rest of your family. Face it, Ron, you're scared."

"A fact I don't deny, angel." His mouth gave the familiar side smirk she'd grown to love almost as much as the name he used for her in private. She opened her mouth, then felt something strange and promptly closed it again.

"All right. I'll owl her tonight if it's that important to you," Ron said on a sigh, misinterpreting her expression. Then he felt it - a wave of intense pain radiating from Mariah.

"What?" He was at her side in a flash.

Mariah struggled to stand and was rewarded with a gush of water that splashed the floor.

"You'd better make that an express owl, or send someone to them."

"You mean?"

I mean, Ron, that we're about to meet our baby. She had to think the statement at him; the pain in her back and midsection was too intense for her to form words.

The news of Mariah's labor spread through the castle faster than Snape took points from Gryffindor. She hadn't been in labor an hour when the corridor outside the Hospital Wing was filled with students and faculty. When it became clear that none of them were going to leave voluntarily, Dumbledore decided to let the prefects stay so they could inform their houses after the blessed event.

It was the first time in anyone's memory that a baby was being delivered at Hogwarts, and the whole school became rapidly caught up in the event. No one, however, knew the further import of the birth save the four standing closest to the door.

Kalena, Allison and Sybill Trelawney had been summarily dismissed from the corridor. Kalena and Sybill took this with grace, knowing that their presence would keep everyone's mind too firmly on what the baby's birth could mean. Allison had to be physically restrained by Draco, not leaving until Hermione had told her point blank that Mariah didn't want her there.

Harry had been sent via Floo Powder to collect the Weasleys.

As her labor progressed, Hermione and Ginny listened to every grunt, groan and scream with faces going steadily greener. Every time they heard a sound from the other side of the heavy oak door, they promised themselves that when the time came, it was pain blocking spells all the way.

Later, Hermione would wonder which sound was more painful - Mariah's final scream of labor or Molly Weasley's bellow the moment she hit the corridor.

"Ginny?" she asked, and then followed with, "Ron?"

Harry and Arthur were about ten steps behind, either unwilling or unable to match the stride of the Weasley matriarch. Harry was obviously trying to fill Arthur in on as much as he could of the past few months. It was clear from Molly's words that he hadn't gotten far.

"What were they thinking? My two youngest are expecting children of their own and not a single owl to let me know. Neither of them comes to see me or introduces me to their partners. Nothing. Am I such a monster? Was I such a bad mother? It's not like I'd interfere, is it Arthur? But with everyone so spread out I feel very out of touch to begin with. It breaks my heart. Ginny? Ron?"

"Hello, Molly," Hermione smiled, stepping forward to embrace her. "You're just in time. I think Mariah just had the baby."

The door swung open a moment later and Poppy walked out to greet the assembled family members, a red, wrinkled, screaming bundle in her arms. "This one wants her mum back, but they insisted I bring her out to meet all of you."

"Is everything okay, Poppy?" Molly asked, her voice thickening with sudden tears as she peered into the blankets at her granddaughter.

"Baby and mum are just fine. Dad should be coming around any moment now."

"Coming around?" Harry asked.

"Well, young Mr. Weasley got a bit frantic during the more intense periods of labor. Actually, it was quite interesting. Ms. Jamison looked at him, told him to sit down and be quiet. And he did just that. In all my time as a midwitch, that's a new one."

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Draco shared a discreet smile. Although for Harry and Draco, it was a little more like a grimace. Every one of them knew that Mariah had used her Persuader gift on Ron.

"Can we go in?" Hermione asked.

"Not just yet. I'd like to give the three of them some time alone. I know I'd get nowhere asking you all to come back tomorrow…" Every head nodded in unison. "So I will settle for two hours. Entertain yourselves elsewhere for that time period, and I will allow you in to see them then." Her words brooked no argument; neither did the door slamming in their faces.

Molly, apparently content that all was well with one half of the problem, turned sharply to the other. Even the blind could have sensed Molly's instant and unfavorable reaction to the man standing beside Ginny.

"As for you, young lady," she said to Ginny, "what can you possibly say to explain yourself?" Arthur's face went from smiling to sneering in the blink of an eye as he fixed Draco with a stare that should have stopped his heart beating.

To Harry, it looked as if Draco was going to step forward and take the heat. But Ginny restrained him with a slight touch on the arm.

"Mum, maybe we should go back to our room and talk. Privately."

Molly pursed her lips, nodded once and turned back down the hallway. Draco took Ginny's hand and took a step forward. Arthur stopped him with another glare.

"This is for family, if you don't mind." Then he grabbed his daughter's arm and propelled her down the hall.

Harry restrained Draco this time, and he had to dig his fingers into the other man's arm to keep him from following. "I'm her family, too," he said in an almost lost voice.

"I know, Draco," Harry said quietly. "And she'll tell them that. Just give her time with her parents." He glanced at Hermione and winked. "I say we nip off to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer in honor of the newest Weasley."

"Now there's a bloody horrid thought, Potter," Draco quipped and Harry was relieved to see even the ghost of his familiar smirk.

^*^*^*^

Inside the hospital wing, a reverent silence had replaced the grunting and screaming that heralded the baby's arrival. The new parents sat side by side on the hospital bed, the baby lying between them. They'd unwrapped the blankets, counted fingers and toes, then rewrapped her.

"She's beautiful, Mariah," Ron whispered.

"She's red, wrinkled and squashed-looking, Ron," Mariah countered with a sleepy smile. "But give her some time and I think she will be. How can she help it? She looks just like you, red hair and all."

"And here I was thinking she looked just like you," Ron added, kissing her softly on the forehead.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she began, barely staving off her growing fatigue.

"You mean zapping me?" he grinned.

"Well, that's not the way I'd phrase it, but yes. It was either that or Poppy would've stunned you."

"She wouldn't have."

"She had her wand out, Ron. You were so adorable," she grinned, her eyes closing. Before Ron could respond she was fast asleep. He kissed her forehead once again, gingerly picked up his daughter and conjured a blanket for Mariah before leaving the bed.

"Adorable, she says," Ron told his daughter as he moved over to the next bed and lay down, cradling the baby in his arms. "I was scared out of my wits, feeling every scream as though it was tearing me in two and she thinks I was adorable. Rianne, I think your mum's a bit mental."

Rianne Weasley chose that moment to open her swollen eyes. Ron didn't think he'd ever been scrutinized as thoroughly as he was by his new daughter. In awe over what they had created, he raised a finger to trace the downy skin.

He didn't know what this little girl's future held, but he supposed that was a feeling shared by all new parents throughout the world, magical or not. All he knew in that moment was that he would gladly lay down his own life for hers and would hunt down anyone that hurt her. Six months ago he would have never believed the joy and contentment he was feeling now was possible.

He glanced to the left and saw that Mariah was still sleeping. Barely stifiling a yawn of his own, Ron thought that sleep didn't sound like such a bad idea. He placed Rianne on his shoulder, wrapped his arms securely around her, stole one last glance at his fiancée and closed his eyes. "I love you, Mariah."

In that place between awake and asleep, Mariah smiled.

^*^*^*^*

"Now then," Molly said in a deceptively calm voice. "You have two minutes. Start talking."

Defiantly, Ginny kept her lips firmly sealed and glared at her mother.

For two minutes, there wasn't a sound in the room, save the deep breathing of three people fighting to keep their tempers.

When the explosion came, it came from all sides. Molly, Arthur and Ginny began shouting at the same time, which was a good thing as no one was able to distinguish the words. The meanings came through clear enough, though.

"Did you hear me?" Molly asked her daughter, her voice returning to a more normal level.

"Mum, I think the Giant Squid heard you. As for me, I didn't catch the words, only the meaning behind them."

"I am so stunned that you'd act this way…be this deceptive," Molly said, sadness replacing the anger.

"And get involved with a Malfoy, of all people. Whatever happened to Iain? I thought you two were getting close to announcing an engagement," Arthur asked hopefully, as if bringing up the other man's name would snap Ginny out of whatever spell Malfoy had cast.

"Arthur," Molly interjected. "Can we handle one side of the issue before we tackle the other?"

Arthur looked sullen, but he nodded.

"Mum," Ginny began, walking over to the window seat. Molly joined her but Arthur remained standing and scowling. "I know there aren't enough words to apologize for keeping my marriage and pregnancy from you. And it has nothing to do with you, I promise. It just happened so fast and we were so happy, we didn't want to lose that."

"And letting your mother know is the sure death of happiness, then?"

"If he had been any other man, with any other last name," Ginny stared pointedly at her father, "that wouldn't have been true. But yes, if we'd shown up at the Burrow together…it would have been a disaster, and I would have spent the past seven months fighting members of my family rather than enjoying time with my husband."

Molly said nothing, because there wasn't anything to say. Her daughter was dead right. Sniffing slightly, Molly wasn't entirely sure she liked what that said about her.

Ginny seemed to lose a lot of her steam after that. She walked to the door of the room and paused to face her parents. "Mum, Dad, I love you both. But I love him, too. More than words can say. Before I leave I want to answer the questions you would have asked if the man was any one else. Yes, we're happy. Yes, he treats me well. I feel terrible about letting our fears get in the way of telling you before now, but I can tell that my theories were correct, so I'm not sorry."

When she opened the door, she wasn't surprised to find Draco on the other side of it. From his facial expression, Ginny knew he'd heard every word she'd just said. Without comment, she walked straight into his arms and kissed him softly. There was no sly look back towards her parents to gauge their reaction; she didn't want them thinking that the embrace was for their benefit.

"I was just coming to let you know that Harry and Hermione are headed for the hospital wing."

"Thank you, er…" said Molly, clearly struggling to keep the disapproval out of her voice, but still not able to even say his name. Small as it was, he appreciated the effort.

"How did it go?" Draco muttered as the well spaced foursome walked through the corridors, each pretending the other didn't exist.

"Doesn't matter, Draco."

"That bad?"

"Don't worry about it, babe. They'll either come to accept it, or they'll live without me in their lives. I've already gone a month without you; I'm not prepared to repeat the experience."

Draco hugged her to his side a little more firmly and dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head. He wasn't about to let her give up her family for him. This called for drastic measures. Scratching up what courage he could, he resolved to have a wizard to wizard talk with Arthur Weasley as soon as possible.

^*^*^*^*^

It was two hours to the minute when the group reassembled at the hospital wing's heavy oak doors. Molly Weasley was pounding on the door and demanding entrance.

"Molly," Poppy said in exasperation as she pushed open the heavy door, "that didn't work when you went to school here and it won't work now."

"Poppy," Ron's voice sounded from just behind her. "Let them in, okay?"

Molly and Arthur went first and Poppy held up the other four. "Mr. Weasley requested some time alone with his parents first."

No one in the group protested that, and they all sat down to wait. Silence stretched as Harry and Hermione pretended to ignore Ginny and Draco as they spoke in quiet voices. Hermione felt her heart ache for them as she saw Ginny's eyes fill with tears, watched Draco pull her closer, and heard him say "I love you, Red. It'll all work out."

Something was stirring in Hermione, something tickling the back of her mind, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Before she could think about it any further, though, she felt Harry's hand smooth over the seven month bulge of their child. As if recognizing its father, the baby gave a resounding thump towards his hand.

"Two more months," he whispered.

"Two more months," she answered with a grin. But when Harry's smile turned to a frown, she clasped his hand firmly. "And yes, I'm probably going to scream just as loudly as Mariah did."

Harry's normally fair skin took on a decidedly green tinge. "Isn't there anything you can do about the pain?"

She was kept from answering when Arthur peered around the door. "Come on in, the baby's awake and wants to meet her aunts and uncles."

For at least fifteen minutes, the only sounds in the hospital wing were coos and awws and congratulations as the baby was passed from one to the other. Ron was thumped on the back, Mariah was kissed on the cheek, and all bad feelings had been checked at the door.

But all good things must eventually end. And the Rianne's joyous welcoming by her extended family ended when her maternal grandmother and Kalena came crashing through the door.

"Darling," she simpered, joining her daughter at the bedside and peering at the swaddled baby. Whether in reaction to her grandmother or sensing Mariah's tension, the baby immediately began to howl.

"Smart kid," Draco muttered to Ginny.

"Shut it," Hermione and Ginny muttered back.

"Mother," Mariah sighed, passing the baby to Ron. "Why are you still here? We said all we needed to say earlier."

"How could I not stay and see my granddaughter?"

"Well, you haven't seen me in over five years, Mom. I didn't think my having a baby would make much difference." Mariah's eyes widened as comprehension dawned. "Oh, but of course. It's what the baby could be that has you simpering like this. I should have known."

Ron knew that he was the only one who heard the sadness and acceptance that mingled with those words. He didn't know if she was aware that she was transferring her thoughts to him as she spoke, but he was pretty sure she wasn't.

Kalena seemed to think that the prime opportunity to step forward. "Mariah? May I see the baby?"

Mariah could do nothing but nod to Ron. Fear and anticipation threaded through him as Kalena took his daughter and laid her down near Mariah's feet. The room fell deathly silent as she unwrapped the pale pink blanket and examined the baby from head to toe. Ron was dancing on his last nerve by the time she handed the baby back to Mariah.

"She looks like a perfectly healthy little girl to me. We'll have to wait until she's 18 or so to know the type and extent of her gift."

"You mean…" Mariah trailed off, unable to believe what Kalena was inferring.

"She is not a Triuna, Mariah. She's a normal Diviner child."

There was a loud whoosh as everyone in the room let out their breath at the same time.

"We will leave you now," Kalena said. "There is nothing for us here any longer. Allison, come with me. We have other matters that require our attention."

"But what about the attacks? The man behind them?" Hermione asked what the others were thinking.

"We will handle that. This man shouldn't bother you any longer. We know who he is, and I have a fairly good idea where he's living. I'd say it's safe for you to go back to your normal lives. Once I make sure he knows there is no Triuna to abduct, he'll leave you be."

The hospital wing turned into an outright party after that. Rianne slept through most of it, and the staff slowly made their way through to congratulate Ron and Mariah. Molly was talking to Minerva McGonagall when she noticed Mariah out of the corner of her eye. The young woman's shoulders were convulsing slightly. Her maternal instincts went into full alert when she noticed the tears.

"What's wrong, dear?" Molly asked once she reached her side.

"I…" she lowered her voice so Ron couldn't hear. "I'm afraid, Mrs. Weasley."

"Molly, love. Call me Molly." Molly perched an ample hip on the bed, effectively blocking her son from seeing them. There were some things women just needed to discuss without the wizards hovering. "What are you afraid of? I thought this witch, Kalena, said the baby was normal."

"She did. But you saw what raised me. How can I be a good mother when I had such a poor example? I don't have the first clue about babies, or being a mother or…" More tears spilled over her lashes and down her cheeks as she clutched the sleeping baby even closer to her. "I don't even know why I'm crying."

Molly, who had been through the post delivery blues seven times and knew the routine well, patted Mariah on the arm gently. "Tell you what. Why don't you talk to Ron about coming back to the Burrow with us? We'll get to spend some time getting to know you and Rianne. And I'll help you get on your feet about the business of motherhood."

Mariah burst into loud, raging sobs of thankfulness. Ron was at her side in a flash. She waved him off, passed him the baby and threw her arms around Molly. Ron felt about as useful as a case of belched up slugs, but his mother gave him the "everything's okay, I'll explain later" smile.

The next day, the five of them left Hogwarts for the Burrow, Draco and Ginny headed back to the Manor, and Harry and Hermione settled back into their positions as newlyweds, parents-to-be and professors.

And for the next few weeks, things were back to normal.

^*^*^*^*

Renae stood in a corner of the darkened room, watching Sabastian pace. In the two weeks since the owl had arrived, he'd clearly decided to leave his sanity behind altogether and go completely mad. The thought held no humor or comfort.

"I don't understand it," Sabastian growled, still stalking around the room like a caged panther. "First this letter from that witch…"

Renae bristled. He used the word witch like others used the word whore.

Almost as if he still didn't believe what he'd seen written on it, he crossed the room and began waving the parchment in the air. "This…this…fabrication. It's in the witch's writing but it has Kalena's fingerprints all over it. And now, that woman and her Bond are out in the open. They're taunting me, I know it." He stopped and seemed to suddenly realize that he wasn't alone. "You!"

Sabastian turned to her and she jumped. "Yes, milord?"

"You said a Triuna was coming. You told me you saw it. And that the witch's daughter was a part of it. And now this," he waved the parchment again, "says that the baby is normal. Were you wrong?"

"No, milord," Renae muttered, her mind casting in several different directions. With a heavy heart, she took the only option available to her. "Perhaps the witch lied to you, and now they're hiding in plain sight. They don't know your brilliance, Sabastian. They don't know what you're capable of or the strength of your mind. Perhaps they think that by telling you that the woman's child is simply a normal Diviner baby, you'll leave them alone."

Mentally, she crossed her fingers and hoped he accepted her logic. I'm sorry, Mariah. I'm only doing what I have to do. I hope that one day you can forgive me.

"Then they are the fools I've always believed them to be." The horrible gleam was back in his eyes as was the smile that made her blood turn to ice water. "I must think this through. Leave me so I can plan. But you must be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. And inform me if you see anything pertinent."

"Yes, milord." Renae glided from the room, robes billowing behind her. Filled with self loathing like she'd never experienced, Renae went back to her cell. A stronger woman would have told him the truth. A stronger woman wouldn't have hidden behind a newborn baby.

But she was well and truly on her own. If help was coming, she'd have sensed it…seen it. And as they had left her to her own devices, she was doing the best she could.

^*^*^*^

Hermione placed her feet on the low table in front of her and sighed. These days, seeing her feet at all was a treat. At first, the elephantine growth in her abdomen hadn't made any sense to her. After all, Mariah hadn't ever looked like she was harboring a watermelon under her robes. Then she realized the difference in their heights. As she barely reached five foot three, Hermione figured that the baby didn't have anywhere else to go but out.

Since she and Ginny were roughly the same height, they were able to commiserate. And now, thanks to Draco, they had the whole weekend to trade pregnancy stories.

No one had been more surprised than Hermione when Draco suggested that the six of them get together once a month. She'd sensed Ginny's reluctance to leave her friends a month ago, and Draco had obviously picked up on it as well. The gesture warmed Hermione's heart even further towards him. That he loved Ginny was undeniable; but the suggestion of a monthly get together proved his willingness to go to any lengths to ensure her happiness…even if it meant spending one weekend a month in close proximity to her older brother.

"You know what I miss?" Ginny grinned, bringing Hermione back to the present. "Tying my own shoes."

Hermione laughed. Just that morning, she'd needed Harry's help with that very chore. It was embarrassing at first, but then he'd kissed her ankles gently after tying her laces. She'd decided that maybe it wasn't so bad, after all. Before they could get further into the eight month pregnant blues, Mariah joined them.

"Rianne asleep?" Ginny asked.

"Finally," Mariah yawned, "for how long is the real question." She took a seat in the empty love seat and closed her eyes immediately.

"Is everything okay, Mariah?" Hermione cast a worried glance towards her best friend. For reasons she couldn't quite name, she didn't think that the circles under Mariah's eyes were caused solely by a fussy newborn.

"I'm…" she stopped suddenly and rubbed at her eyes. "I was going to say fine. But I can't lie to you, either of you. But I need your promise that you won't tell Ron."

Ginny and Hermione shared a look that took only a fraction of a second and conveyed the same meaning. Their silence was conditional.

"I've been having nightmares ever since Rianne's birth. And they've been getting steadily worse. At first it was just a few seconds every other night. Now it seems more like all night, every night. The simplest tasks are getting to be more than I can handle and my temper's becoming shorter and shorter."

"What are the dreams about?" Hermione asked. Skeptical as she was about the divination art of dream interpretation, she'd had too many experiences with dreams to discount them entirely.

"My childhood, for lack of a better term. I keep seeing the same child over and over again. He's always being horrible to me, hitting me, throwing things at me, and then my mother comes and takes him away."

"What does he look like?"

"I don't know. Mother leads him off before I can see his face. But he seems so familiar."

Hermione was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "It sounds a lot like the dreams I had while I was trying to keep myself from remembering my past. You haven't been battling amnesia, have you?" she was only partially kidding.

"Not that I'm aware of," Mariah yawned again.

"How about a memory charm?" Ginny asked, sitting forward. "There was an article I researched about a year ago about the effects of stress on poorly cast memory charms. The mediwitch I talked to said that certain conditions can cause ruptures in a memory charm and, in effect, create leaks. I don't remember exactly, but I think childbirth was one of those conditions."

"There's something else, isn't there?" Hermione guessed, sensing the sudden tension in her friend's shoulders. But before Mariah could answer, the men came in, still grimy from their pickup Quidditch match against the Slytherin team.

"How'd it go?" Ginny asked a little too brightly, obviously trying to make sure the guys didn't ask what they'd been discussing.

"Potter cheats." Draco said with a grin.

"Sod off, Malfoy," responded the other five. Even Ginny had taken up the habit.

Conversation turned to a play by play of the match as the men boasted and the women pretended to hang on every word. Hermione, cuddled in Harry's arms, found her eyes traveling to Draco again and again. There was something different about him tonight that she was having trouble placing. Then it hit her - Draco had a tan.

"Actually," he was saying, "I just returned from Aruba the other day. Some local wizards were having a field day with the tourists, and their Ministry asked me to come and have a word with them."

"Draco's promised to take me there after the baby's born and I can't wait. Of course, I'll have to stay out of the sun with this skin. It just kills me the way he tans." She grinned up at her husband, "don't you think Draco turns a lovely shade of brown?"

Mariah clapped a hand over Ron's mouth, obviously hearing his pithy remark before he uttered it. "Lovely," he agreed slyly, winking at his sister.

Hermione, however, couldn't join in the laughter that followed. Her head was beginning to pound and a powerful sense of déjà vu was threatening to overwhelm her. Then she caught Draco's eye. His whole face was shuttered, but she thought she saw something behind the pale gray eyes…something he was hiding.

She managed to remain in the common room with everyone for another hour before making her excuses and heading to bed. Harry draped an arm around her shoulders as they walked back to their apartment.

"Are you okay, love?" Harry asked once they were alone.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache."

They undressed silently and slid beneath the sheets. Without a word, Harry placed his back against the headboard and waited for his wife to lean her back against his chest. As the baby grew, it was becoming more and more difficult for Hermione to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Every night for the past month or so, he'd taken to massaging her shoulders and neck until she relaxed enough to sleep. Harry began to knead the skin at her temples instead of her shoulders, hoping to alleviate the pain he'd seen behind her deep brown eyes.

Hermione didn't know why exactly, but tonight, Harry's gentle caresses made her want to cry. Finally, either from exhaustion or Harry's ministrations, Hermione drifted into sleep. And unfortunately, she dreamed.

Hermione walked slowly along the coastline, the gentle waves lapping at her feet as they ebbed and flowed. She was waiting for him…it was their last night together before she headed back home. And she was going to ask him to come visit her. Shy little plain Jane was going to be forward for the first time in her life…

Then she was on a dance floor. The band at the front was beating out a pulsing island song that had her breathless as she tried to keep up. Strong hands were fixed around her middle as they guided her through the complicated steps. "Just go with it, beautiful, I won't let you fall…" She wanted to turn her head to see the owner of the strong hands, but her back was pressed too tightly into his chest.

And then she was at an airport. She could hear the distant rumble of planes preparing for takeoff and landing. An overpowering sadness filled her as she pulled her arms even tighter around the man. She'd always wondered what a broken heart felt like. Now she knew. "I'll miss you, beautiful."

"Then come see me," she said with a sob, trying desperately not to sound like she was pleading.

"I can't. Believe me, it's better this way, Jane. By the time you get back to America, you won't even remember me."

She pulled back and lost herself in the dewy gray of his eyes. "I could never forget you. Never." She raised herself up on her toes and pressed her mouth firmly to his. He resisted at first, then fisted his hands in her hair and deepened the kiss almost immediately. His tongue weaved a spell on her as it always did, gliding and retreating, leaving no centimeter of her mouth unexplored.

She clutched him to her even tighter, knowing she was making a spectacle of herself befitting a bad romance heroine and not caring in the slightest. All that mattered was kissing him, pouring the feelings she'd developed for him into this last kiss.

Then she felt something on the back of her head and felt him pull away, his breath labored in her ear. But rather than words of love, he whispered one word only.

"Obliviate."

Hermione sat up in bed, tossed her head from side to side and tried to convince herself that it had only been a dream. But it was too real. It was too much like the memories she'd uncovered in sleep before.

Dawn was just beginning to thread its way across the castle grounds and Harry was still sleeping peacefully. When she'd sat up, his hand had slipped from her hip to her thigh. With an aching heart, she traced a finger over the smooth fingers, over the wedding band she'd placed there almost a year ago.

Easing from the bed as gracefully as she could, Hermione dressed in silence and left the apartment. Ginny was just emerging from the room she shared with Draco.

"Morning," she yawned. Ginny's hair was a tousled mess, and her face still bore the traces of sleep.

"Morning," Hermione answered as evenly as possible. "Draco still asleep?"

"No, he was up early. I think he went for a walk down by the lake. He had a lot of trouble sleeping last night - kept tossing and turning. But at the moment, Junior is insisting rather pointedly that I eat. Now." She grinned and headed down the corridor.

Hermione waited until Ginny was out of view before turning in the opposite direction, towards the lake.

When she found him, he was skipping rocks into the lake. The Giant Squid was trying to bat them back rather poorly.

"You know," she said softly, "I joked with Harry a few months ago that the Squid was a magnet for people with issues."

Draco tossed his last stone into the lake and stood to face her. Brown and gray locked immediately…each searching for an answer, for the truth. Hermione gasped as Draco broke the contact first.

"It happened, didn't it?" Her voice was a harsh whisper, a mix of anger, surprise and dread mingling there.

"Yes, Jane, it did."

Hermione stumbled. Her knees no longer felt like they could support her weight. Draco was at her side in a flash, placing a supporting hand on her arm and another around her waist to steady her.

^*^*^*^*^

Harry awoke slowly and trailed his hand to the other side of the bed. It was cold. He sat up, pulled on his glasses and scanned the room. There was no sign of her.

"Hermione?"

No answer.

Smiling, he pulled on his clothes and ran his fingers through the unruly mop on his head. Not that it makes any big difference, he thought and gave a snort of laughter. After tying the laces on his trainers, he headed for the lake. He'd felt her restlessness all night and knew she'd spend her morning walking around the lake and trying to puzzle out whatever dream had plagued her the night before.

^*^*^*

"I don't understand, Draco," Hermione said in a quivering voice. "Why did you put a memory charm on me?"

"You were starting to remember things, Hermione. I don't think you realized it at the time, but I did. You would use words from the wizarding world, like calling the other tourists Muggles, saying one man looked like Snape and so on."

"Why didn't you help me, then? Why did you send me away and take away what little I was remembering?"

Draco sighed deeply and turned from her towards the lake. "Think, Hermione. Before you disappeared, I was still Gryffindor Enemy Number One. I'd spent a few years trying to figure myself out - deal with my identity crisis, if you wish. When you showed up on the island, I…well, at first I saw it as an opportunity to have a little of what I'd envied all those years. A chance to get to know you without all the prejudices in the way." He paused and Hermione hoped he'd continue, but he didn't. Instead, he just gave her his trademark smirk. "You should feel honored, Hermione. Sending you away was probably the first respectable thing I've ever done."

She opened her mouth, a sharp retort ready to explode off her tongue. Then logic overcame irritation. Memories assaulted her, some half formed, some complete. All of them disturbing…a smile like now, only on a younger face…a curse that made her teeth grow past her collar…a garland of flowers…filthy, little Mudblood…the sweet sense of a first kiss…

Hermione felt her knees begin to buckle again and Draco tightened his grip. "Will you tell me what it was like, what we did?" Both of them knew the dangers inherent in removing memory charms and therefore knew that wasn't an option.

"Someday, perhaps. But there really isn't much to tell. We met, spent some time together on the island -"

"Kissed," Hermione half asked, half stated.

"That, too," he grinned, "but that's all."

If there were any lingering doubts in her mind about Draco's change of character, that statement erased them. Hermione knew she'd been a virgin when she and Harry made love the first time back in her apartment. The Draco she'd known growing up wouldn't have hesitated to use her lack of memory to his advantage…or to torture her with false claims.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but I came to your reception." Hermione only nodded, sensing this was something he'd been waiting for an opportunity to say. "I wanted to wish you both the best of luck. It seemed like everything clicked back into order when you got married. With you two together again, as it should have been years before, possibilities opened to many people…even self imposed exiles ended."

"And you met Ginny," she finished. The smile that spread across his face cast them both in a glow that rivaled the rising sun.

Harry saw Draco on the lakeshore and headed his way to ask if he'd seen Hermione. From the way he was standing, Harry guessed he'd be interrupting a very private moment between a husband and wife. Thinking quickly, he changed his course so as not to disturb them. His feet had just hit the worn path that circled the lake when he cast a look over his shoulder at the pair. Draco had just leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Ginny's mouth.

His feet stopped moving and his jaw fell to his chest.

That wasn't Ginny.

The child in him felt the strong desire to run and hide; the adolescent wanted to stride over and pound Malfoy's face into the soft, fragrant earth at the lake's edge. But the adult was in charge. And the adult would act as such.

Walking as erect as if his spine had been replaced by solid steel, Harry walked close enough to the entwined couple so that they couldn't miss seeing him. He slowed his gait until all three made eye contact. And then he strode past them without an emotion on his face or a word for either of them.

His composure broke halfway to the front steps into the castle as he heard Hermione's heartsick voice calling after him.

"Harry….."